Emergency exit for passenger-carrying bodies



Mar. 3, 1925.

- 1,528,090 Haw. TRACY .BlBnenNcY fixn' FOR-"PASSENGER CARRYING BODIESFiled A ril -1s,'1924 2 Sheets-She et 1 Mar 3. 1925; v 1,528,090.

' Y G. w. TRACY EMERGENCY EXIT FOR PASSENGER CARRYING BODIE Filed April18, 1 24 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IZ-TII I: 5

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Patented Mar. 3, 1925 PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. TRACY, 0F JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

EMERGENCY EXIT FOR PASSENGER-CARRYIEG BODIES.

Application filed. April 18, 1924. Serial No. 707,479.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, GEORGE 'W. TRACY, a citizen of the United States of-America, and resident of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and Stateof New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inEmergency Exits for Passenger- Carrying Bodies, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in land vehicles, bodies andvtops, and particularly to the sub-class bodies thereunder.

It is an object'o-f this invention to produce an emergency exit forpassenger vehicles such as motor busses, tramway cars and the like whichprovides a ramp especially those that have closed doors for theadmission and discharge of passengers, since the operating mechanism ofsuch doors is liable to become jammed or impaired when accident occursas in collisions and the like, or the mecha-' nism may becomeinoperative on account of wear or the breaking of parts under normaluse.

When doors ordinarily employed in passenger busses' or cars becomeimpaired and especially when the impairment is due to accident,passengers become excited and panicky sometimes to a degree where theyinjure one another in their effort to escape and there is no naturalpathof exit.

It is an object of this invention to produce an emergency exit,preferably at a pointremote from the usual admission and exit doors inorder that the emergency exit shall not be liable to damage-from thesame cause that effects the regular doors or their operatingmechanisms,and therefore, in so far as the invention is used in connection withmotor busses and tramway cars that are operated by a single employee,the emergency exit is preferably located at the rear of the body or in aposition remote from that where the passengers enter and leave a bus orcar.

It is furthermore an object of this invention to produce a closure foran emergency exit which will have an exterior surface finished tosimulate the sheathing or external surface .of the car body in orderthat the pressure of the closure will not change the symmetry orornamental scheme of the external surface of the body.

It is a further object of this invention to produce an emergency exitopening with a closure or door therefor mounted to oscillate verticallyand having its hinge'or support at the bottom, the said closure beingcapable of swinging outwardly until its normal top end encounters theroadbed or earth near which the vehicle is resting. Thus the door orclosure would form an inclined way on which passenger's escaping. fromthe vehicle might pass without liability to accident.

It is a still further object of this invention to produce a door. havinga mounting of the character indicated, associated with a mov able sillor shield which guards the joint or space'between the door and itsframe, a condition which lessens the liability of the passengerstripping in their hasty exit from the body, and the said sill'isassociated with novel means by which the upper surface thereof iselevated as it moves from inoperative to its operative position.

It is furthermore an object of this invention to provide means forholding the door or closure in its normal position, and in supplyingmechanism for operating the said means from remote points, as, forinstance, from the operators seat, or from a station accessible topassengers, either or both of whom may release the said means to permitthe closure to swing outwardly as heretofore described; and it isfurthermore an object to provide kick springs which will have the dualfunction of maintaining a tension or pressure on the closure to preventrattling of the said closure or its retaining means, and to impartmotion to the closure when re leased in order that the closure will beforced to an open position automatically.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists inthe details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination ofparts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will i be had to theaccompanying drawings forming part of this application wherein likecharacters'denote correspond ing parts in the several views, and inwhich Figure 1 illustrates a view in side elevae tion of therear portionof a passenger carrying body; a

Figure 2 illustrates a longitudinal sectional view of a door in openposition with parts associated with it in elevation,

Figure 3 illustrates a rear elevation of the said body;

Figure l illustrates a sectional view of the rear door; and

Figure 5 illustrates a sectional view of the rear door and the doorframe.

In these drawings, 10 denotes a body in which the passengers may ride,here conven tionally shown as the body of an automobile or motor bus,although it is the intention of the inventor to have the deviceapplicable to tramway or railway cars and therefore he does not wish tobe limited with respect to its use by anything contained in thespecification.

In the present embodiment of the invention, the rear end of the body hasa door case 11 or a frame corresponding to a door case generally in itsconstruction, and the side members or studs 12 have apertures or seats13,, and the upper member i l of the case has an aperture 15, which.apertures constitute sockets or clearances for the reception of doorretaining bolts or latches, as will presently appear.

The door, in the present embodiment of the invention, is connected to asill or other structure 16 of the body frame by hinges 17 so connectedto the sill and the bottom rail 18 ot the door as to permit the door toswing outwardly.

As here illustrated, the door frame has stiles 19 and 20, the bottomrail 18 and top rail 21. A middle rail 22 extends between the stiles andmay be anchored to them in any appropriate way, and a. latch anchoringrail 23 also has its ends secured to the said stiles.

Latch bolts 24, 25 and 26 are guided to project beyond the stiles andthe top rail in positions to enter the recesses or seats hereto'forementioned as being formed in the door case, that is to say, the bolts orlatches 24c and 25 enter the seats 13 and the bolt 26 enters the seat15. The bolt-s are projected and retracted simultaneously by reason ofthe tact that they are connected to a plate 27 that is mounted on apivot 28 anchored to the door. The plate has a stem or arm 29 extendingbeyond the point of attachment of the bolt or latch 26, and the said armhas a spring 30 connected to it, which spring has its opposite endanchored to the top rail of the door and operative to exert a pull onthe arm in a direction to oscillate the plate for projecting the bolts.

Each bolt is further provided with a spring 31 arranged to exertpressure for projecting the bolts and all of the springs are intended toexert force on the bolts, tending to project them and to hold themprojected to insure the proper fastening of the door and to serve asretaining devices for the bolts. By reason of the provision of theplurality of springs the retention of the bolts in their projectedpositions is insured, even though one or two of the springs becomeimpaired.

A rod 32 extends downwardly in the door frame from the arm to which itis connected, and the said rod has a cable 33 connected to it, whichcable extends through an aperture 34, in the bottom rail of the door,through a sleeve in the floor of the body, or an ele mentin which thesleeve may be anchored, and the said cable is connected to a rock lever36 pivotally mounted on a bracket 37 in order that motion of the rocklever will communicate motion to the arm and rotate the plate to retractthe bolts. A cable or rod 38 may be connected to the'roc; lever and ledto any appropriate station such as the operators seat or stand in orderthat an operator may manipulate the cable and cause the retraction otthe door retaining bolts. A suitable handle 39 may be pivotally mountednear the drivers seat or stand and the rod or cable connected to it inorder that the rod or cable may be manipulated.

A. spring or springs such as 40 may be anchored in the door frame andit'extends vertically thereof when the door is closed. The upper end isanchored, whereas the lower end is connected to a cable 41 that extendsthrough an aperture 42 of the lower rail of the door and through abushing or sleeve similar to the bushing or sleeve in the floor or in astationary member of the JOClY, the said cable being anchored to one ofthe stationary parts of the body, as shown at 4:3. The spring lastdescribedserves as a cushioning means for the door as it swingsoutwardly and should be strong enough to nearly if not quitecounterbalance the weightof the door when it swings outwardly anddownwardly. Its purpose is to limit the velocity of descent of the doorwhen it is opened and it serves to prevent injury to the door that mightbe occasioned by its rapid opening and its weight.

The inner surface of the door is provided with a sheathing lt or finishthat may correspond to the interior finish of the body, or it may have acharacateristic finish in order that its identity as a door may be welldefined. T hat is a matter of ornamentation which the maker or user maydetermine and follow.

At the lower end of the sheathing, in the present embodiment of theinvention, an apron or plate 45 is hinged to it, the said plate beingfree to move over the surface of the floor of the body or some'supportprovided for the saidplatev The under surface of the plate is providedwith lugs or "feet 16 and these feet rest on the surface of the floorwhen the door is'open and serve as a bridge for the joint or spacebetween the lower end of the door and the sill or floor of the body whenthe door is in open position. hen the door is closed, the feet of theplate slide on the surface of the floor and enter inclined grooves 47formed in the floor, the said grooves producing clearances which permitthe inner edge of the plate to lie practically flush with the surface ofthe floor.

The plate moves under and is concealed by a secondary sill 48 which isheld in an inclined position and being practically flush with the uppersurface of the floor at its inner edge and which rises gradually to theexit opening and it is practically flush with the plate at its outeredge. By the relation of parts just stated, no shoulders or ledges arepresented which would serve to trip passengers passing from the floor ofthe car to the plate and to the ramp as formed by the door in itsinclined position.

I claim: 7

1. A passenger carrying body adapted to be supported on wheels andhaving an emergency exit opening, a door in said opening, means forholding the door at the bottom to permit it to move outwardly anddownwardly whereby its normal upper end may rest on the ground to form aramp, and an element movable by the door to cover the joint between thenormal lower end of the door and its seat.

2. A passenger carrying body adapted to be supported on wheels andhaving an emergency exit opening, a door in said opening, means forholding the door at the bottom to permit it to move outwardly anddownwardly whereby its normal upper end may rest on the ground to form aramp, an element movable by the door to cover the joint between thenormal lower end of the door and its seat, and means for elevating orlowering the element in its movement.

3. A passenger carrying body adapted to be supported on wheels andhaving an emergency exit opening, a door in said opening, means forholding the door at the bottom to permit it to move outwardly anddownwardly whereby its normal upper end may rest on the ground to form aramp, an

element movable by the door to cover the joint between the normal lowerend of the lowering the element in its movement, and a cover for saidelement when in its inoperative position.

4. A passenger carrying body adapted to be supported 011 wheels andhaving an emergency exit opening, a door for closing the opening havingan external surface simulating the external surface of the body, meansfor oscillatably holding the door at its bottom to permit its upper endto swing outwardly and downwardly, a plate extending inwardly from thelower edge of the door, means for communicating the motion of the doorto the said plate for moving it outwardly as the door swings on itspivot whereby the joint between the lower edge of the door and the seatof the said door is bridged, feet on the lower surface of the plate, asupport within the body on which the feet may slide, the said supporthaving grooves with inclined bottom walls in which the feet slide forcausing the plate to rise as it moves outwardly and to descend as itmoves inwardly, and an inclined cover supported above the said plate.

5. A passenger carrying body adapted to be supported on wheels andhaving an emergency exit opening, a door for closing the opening havingan external surface simulating the external surface of the body, meansfor oscillatably holding the door at its bottom to permit its upper endto swing outwardly and downwardly, a plate extending inwardly from thelower edge of the door, means for communicating the motion of the doorto the said plate for moving it outwardly as the door swings on itspivot whereby the'joint between the lower edge of the door and the seatof the said door is bridged, feet on the lower surface of the plate, asupport within the body on which the feet may slide, the said supporthaving grooves with inclined bottom walls in which the feet slide forcausing the plate to rise as it moves outwardly and to descend as it,moves inwardly, an inclined cover supported above the said plate, and akick spring anchored to a stationary part of said body bearing againstthe door for forcing it outwardly.

GEORGE W. TRACY.

